After all, these are policymakers who have just formed alliances with a former Nazi collaborator (the Muslim Brotherhood), and other groups which preach genocide against all Jews, hate the West, hate Christians, want to murder gays, and to make women second-class citizens. Would you listen to advice by people who do such things?

Moreover, what would happen the day after a successfully negotiated two-state solution? If cross-border terror attacks began would the United States act decisively to condemn the Palestinian regime? Could it “fix” the problem of a Palestinian state that did not live up to its commitments?

What about a state that was taken over by a Hamas coup or even a Hamas electoral victory, which happened in the last Palestinian election? Suddenly, Israel would be ringed by a Hamas-ruled Palestinian state that rejected peace; a Muslim-Brotherhood ruled Egypt and perhaps Syria; and a Hizballah-ruled Lebanon. Do you think that two-state solution or at least peace would long endure? What about a Palestinian state that invited in the armies of neighboring Arab states or Iran, with their weapons or as large numbers of advisors?

In short, would Israel be better off from those who, on the one hand, have as little intention of implementing their agreements as they have often done before and, on the other hand, those who urge you to make such a deal but can and will do nothing significant to enforce it? No. Clinton said that Israel needs peace to survive. Yet the situation is one in which a certain type of peace would endanger survival. What Israel wants is a two-state solution that brings real peace and that would enhance survival. Why is there never any talk about the quality of the peace?

But finally here is the key concept, as voiced by the Huffington Post’s article on Clinton’s speech:

“It underscored a chasm between the country’s official support for creating an independent Palestinian state and the hard-line opponents who dominate Israel’s ruling coalition.”

The problem is the word “opponents.” Israel would be happy to create an independent Palestinian state that resulted in an end to the conflict. It was ready to do so at the 2000 Camp David meeting but the Palestinian leadership then, and since, has refused to say that even a two-state solution would permanently end the conflict. It would merely initiate the next round of a battle pursing total elimination of Israel.This is not an ideological but a strategic issue. Wishful thinking and arguments that if you don’t work for peace you won’t get it are fine for the words of bystanders. They would be disastrous for actual policy. Incidentally, the three most “soft-line” supporters of creating an independent state have been Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, and Ehud Barak. These men learned vividly the same lessons that their political opponents did.

The real blockage to peace comes from the Palestinian leadership (including Hamas’s open preference for massacring all Israelis) and by the realities of the strategic situation that. Question: Is this a right-wing position?

Answer: No, it is just a recognition of reality. As I noted above, everyone knows it and if they don’t there are three possible reasons:

1. They want to bash Israel and subvert Israel’s relations with the West and they know what they are doing.

2. They are ignorant about the region or at least very much out of date. And this goes for those ruled by wishful thinking.

3. They think that by pretending peace is possible they can make the Arabs feel that the United States is trying to help the Palestinians and that therefore most Arabs and Muslims will think better of them and radical Islamists will like America.

Among Israelis they know that since this is a firm belief in the West keeping their mouths shut makes it easier to get along with those people who are in power in the West. And this goes for those ruled by wishful thinking, though proportionately far fewer than in the West.

It also goes for those who would gladly welcome a real, viable two-state solution but know that one is decades off and has been made more difficult by the radicalism unleashed by the supposedly moderating “Arab Spring.”Ironically, the current narrative was put in place in the 1990s precisely because an Israel that was striving for a two-state solution gave peace a chance. The effort proved to Israelis that the Palestinian leadership wasn’t ready to make peace. The effort made the rest of the world think that the Palestinians were victims, desperate for peace. Committing terrorism must have been a cry for help. Arafat rejected peace; Israel was falsely blamed for rejecting peace even though the facts were well known, to people like Bill Clinton who even said so at the times, in early 2000. Fixing this political disaster is not a matter for politicians but one for starting the difficult task of correcting the narrative which can make the necessary policy changes in the long-run.

About the Author:Professor Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal. See the GLORIA/MERIA site at www.gloria-center.org.

If you don't see your comment after publishing it, refresh the page.

Our comments section is intended for meaningful responses and debates in a civilized manner. We ask that you respect the fact that we are a religious Jewish website and avoid inappropriate language at all cost.

If you promote any foreign religions, gods or messiahs, lies about Israel, anti-Semitism, or advocate violence (except against terrorists), your permission to comment may be revoked.

12 Responses to “It’s Time to Tell the Truth about the ‘Peace Process’”

Barry, you hit it right on the head again. There is no peace process, there's only a surrender process. The Arab/ Moslems desire the annihilation of Israel and the extermination of the Jewish people. The Moslem imperialist and supremist scum would much prefer to have Obama and his lackeys hand Israel over to them quickly and quietly. But they are more than willing to violently obliterate the Jewish state.

I have no problem with real peace talks that don’t rest on Israel giving up God’s land. This is God’s land and we’re not allowed to give it away. Iran continues unwavering on it’s march in the development of nuclear weapons and Assad the dictator of Syria is still in power. Current intelligence seems uncertain of when Iran will get the bomb and Israel cannot afford to gamble with this. Assad of Syria has allegedly used chemical weapons against his own people and has targeted Tel-Aviv with his missiles. If this situation does not drastically change soon for the better, I believe the war in Isaiah Chapter 17 will likely take place. Damascus Syria would be destroyed. The worlds economy would likely collapse as a result and could usher in a one world government movement. I wrote a small 6 page book that outlines what I believe the Bible states will take place soon as well as the potential trends I see at this time. I don’t accept donations and it’s free. It’s a short read. I encourage you to have a look: http://www.booksie.com/religion_and_spirituality/book/richard_b_barnes/after-the-rapture-whats-next.

Exactly. Hamas does NOT want peace. They want to drive the Jews into the sea.
They always twist demands. There is anti-Semitism in Muslim countries on a daily basis. They teach their children hatred and tell them the Jews are the enemies of the Muslims.
The children memorize anti Semitic messages, and are encouraged to be racists.
This is the same ideology as the Holocaust and what my family went through in Poland and all the other countries in Europe.
The Muslim countries participated with the Grand Mufti an ally of Hitler.
Wake up Europe and the West, the writing is on the wall for all of us, and stop this madness now.
Tim you are naïve and waked up your self to the terrorists that caused the Boston bombings, and all other terrorist events in America and worldwide.
The Arabs fight and kill their own, and we see what is going on in turkey, Egypt and Syria.
They are incapable of being a peaceful society, and murder small children and so many innocents.

As an American, I look on the decades we wasted with peace talks. It's pretty clear to me we are not serious about two states, and we are quite content to allow Israel to sweep Palestine off the map and export any remaining Palestinians in a massive land grab.

However, I am curious why the author says "The main barrier to peace are the Jewish settlements. This interpretation has nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with reality." yet offers no explanation. To my way of thinking, the US's reticence to come out seriously against this practice is the one reason why I feel we're on board with Palestinian extermination.

Totally wrong. God gave the promised land to the Jews & it rightfully belongs to them. When a peace treaty is forced w/out an agreement there is no peace. Bottom line is this means war. It's was foretold in the Bible this would happen & now it has. This is the beginning of the end times as God said it would be. If you want to know where things are headed for sure, study your Bible. God has always said what would happen from the beginning to the end. God has never been wrong. This world is so overcome w/sin Gods had it. His wrath is upon us. it's just a matter of time now. The elite Christians will be gathered up to safety. Luke warm Christians will be left to suffer the worst this world has ever seen. this is not a book written by man. It was written by God using man. If you don't believe it, your in for the shock of your life if you live to see it and things are moving so fast, my bet is you'll see it. Jesus said one of the signs of his coming would be we wouldn't be able to tell one season from another, sound familiar? Just snowed in NM. All the storms, he said we'd see that too. Never in history has there been such disaster and back to back to back. So much has happened to validate Gods word. If people would only wake up. Well, that is Gods reason behind all this. He's saying, last call return to me. Repent, live as Christlike as you can strive for. Study and pray so you will have the faith you need to get though this & be included when he gathers his church.